HIV & AIDS Activities

In addition to offering a safe meeting place for PC members, Fantsuam Foundation (FF) has provided a temporary secretariat for PC members.
The secretariat is located within the premises of Fansuam Foundation and the management of PC activities is carried out by several FF staff members and volunteers due to the fact that the group has no supporting structure nor the staff to man its activities.
FF has thus developed and implemented the following activities, with the aid of a grant from Catholic Relief Services:

Present and Ongoing Activities:

Community consultations and data collection:
Conducting needs-assessment to determine community priorities and resources.Community involvement in data collection and entry into the database is collectively decided at the consultations.The data collected determines the specific interventions to be provided with respect to shelter, food, health, and education in the project communities.The assessment takes the form of a focus group discussion involving chiefs, community leaders, church leaders, health care professionals, NGOs,community based organizations, PC members, and representative families affected by HIV/AIDS.
Vocational training program:
Has been established to provide mentoring, supervision and funds for income generating activities such as fish farming and compressed earth brick production. The vocational training program encourages the marketing of handy craft goods and sharing of such skills among PC members. Fish Farming has the added benefit of providing fresh fish for the Positive members and a cheap source of protein for households, and the compressed earth bricks (CEB) training program supports affordable and safe housing for members of the community.
Nutritional support:
Provide a limited source of food, saplings and seeds, and demonstration site for members to grow their own gardens with food items containing the nutrients they require. FF has set up a preliminary Positive Nursery/Garden and Fish Farm to grow vegetables and fruit tree saplings and supply fish. The fish farm provides a source of much needed protein to PC members and their families as well as the community.
Access to antiretrovirals, school fees, books, foodstuffs:
PC members occasionally receive antiretrovirals from Community Based Care and Support (CBCS), who also provides group members with school fees, books, and foodstuffs.

Past Activities:

Life Skills training program was held, which targeted five areas: self, family, community, career and leisure. Specific training areas included Creative problem-solving, Communication, Goal setting, Self-esteem, Conflict resolution, Managing change and Handling stress.